Cannaregio, 30100 Venice, Italy - panoramio (206)

The Venice Giardini or Giardini della Biennale is an area of parkland in the historic city of

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

which hosts the Venice Biennale Art Festival, a major part of the city's cultural Biennale. The gardens were created by

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

who drained an area of marshland in order to create a public garden on the banks of the Bacino di San Marco which is a narrow stretch of water dividing the gardens from St. Mark's Square and the

Doge's Palace The Doge's Palace ( it, Palazzo Ducale; vec, Pałaso Dogal) is a palace built in Venetian Gothic style, and one of the main landmarks of the city of Venice in northern Italy. The palace was the residence of the Doge of Venice, the supreme auth ...

. The gardens contain 30 permanent pavilions. Each pavilion is allocated to a particular nation and displays works of art by its nationals during the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

. Several of the pavilions were designed by leading architects of the 20th century, including

Carlo Scarpa Carlo Scarpa (2 June 1906 – 28 November 1978) was an Italian architect, influenced by the materials, landscape and the history of Venetian culture, and by Japan. Scarpa translated his interests in history, regionalism, invention, and the tec ...

and

Alvar Aalto Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto (; 3 February 1898 – 11 May 1976) was a Finnish architect and designer. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware, as well as sculptures and paintings. He never regarded himself as an artist, see ...

. The gardens are also famous for the many cats which run wild in the vicinity and for some of the sculptures such as the statue of

Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, patr ...

situated at the entrance.

History

The Giardini is arguably the pre-eminent traditional site of La Biennale Art Exhibitions since the first edition in 1895. It rose to the eastern edge of Venice and was made by Napoleon at the beginning of the 19th century. After it was launched, the success of the first editions which attracted approximately 200,000 visitors in 1895 and about 300,000 in 1899, continued to grow. Starting from the launch in 1907 several foreign pavilions were added to the already built Central Pavilion. The Giardini now hosts 30 pavilions of foreign countries, some of them designed by architects such as Josef Hoffmann's Austria Pavilion, Gerrit Thomas Rietveld's Dutch pavilion or the Finnish pavilion, a pre-fabricated with a trapezoidal plan designed by Alvar Aalto. Monument to Richard Wagner by Fritz Schaper 1908">Fritz_Schaper.html" ;"title="Richard Wagner by Fritz Schaper">Richard Wagner by Fritz Schaper 1908

References

External links

La Biennale di Venezia Art Venues : GiardiniA brief history of I Giardini: Or a brief history of the Venice Biennale seen from the Giardini. (Vittoria Martini)
Geography of Venice Gardens in Veneto Parks in Veneto Venice Biennale Tourist attractions in Venice {{Italy-art-display-stub